New Report Addresses Standardized Benefit Designs in SBMs

A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute looks at how successful state-based marketplaces (SBMs) have been with implementing standardized benefit design. The report examined four SBMs, all of which allow non-standardized plans in addition to standardized ones. The four states were Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon. The study finds that the state regulations surrounding their marketplace as well as the website interface being used has not made it easier for consumers to do a plan-to-plan comparison when shopping in the SBMs. The report also has some suggestions for how states could move forward in improving the consumer experience when trying to compare plans in the marketplace. To download a copy of the report, click here.